Mo. Governor Orders State Of Emergency, Curfew In Ferguson

A protester holds up a clenched fist Friday night in front of a convenience store that was looted and burned in Ferguson, Mo.

Charlie Riedel
/ AP

Originally published on August 17, 2014 3:32 pm

Updated at 1:19 a.m. ET, Sunday.

Hundreds of demonstrators went home peacefully as a midnight curfew approached in Ferguson, Mo., but "a couple hundred defiant protesters remained," reports the Associated Press.

The crowd was gathered in the St. Louis suburb at the site where 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white police officer.

"Remaining protesters mingled, chanted and taunted police, some shouting that they would not abide the curfew," AP reports. "Police dressed in riot gear were keeping their distance."

Updated at 4:50 p.m. ET.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon says he's ordered a state of emergency and implemented a curfew in the city of Ferguson to curb incidents of violence and looting in the wake of the police shooting of an unarmed teenager a week ago.

"We can't let the ill will of the few to undermine the goodwill of the many," Nixon said, speaking at a church in the St. Louis suburb.

The order for a citywide state of emergency and a curfew come after the Aug. 9 fatal shooting of Michael Brown.

Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson, who was appointed earlier this week to take over security from the local authorities, said the curfew would go into effect from midnight Saturday and would run until 5 a.m. CT (1 a.m. to 6 a.m. ET).

Johnson said a decision would be made on a day-by-day basis as to whether the curfew and other security measures would continue.